Iran persists in its crackdown against journalists

New York, September 12, 2012--Continuing their three-year-long
clampdown on journalists covering human rights, minority groups, and political
reform, Iranian authorities have summoned two journalists to begin prison terms
and are bringing two others to trial.

"These actions are not only a terrible injustice but a
reminder to every journalist in Iran that they can be jailed at any time for
their critical reporting," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

Authorities summoned Shiva Nazar Ahari, a blogger and
founding member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR), on Saturday
to begin serving her prison sentence in the women's ward of Tehran's Evin Prison,
according to CHRR. In
2010, Nazar Ahari was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of moharebeh, or "waging war against God,"
"propagating against the regime," and "acting against national security" for
reporting on political gatherings, according to the International
Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. In January 2011, an appeals court
reduced her sentence to four years in prison and 74 lashes, news reports said.

Nazar Ahari has been targeted by authorities in the past.
Following the disputed presidential elections in June 2009, she was arrested
twice and spent several months in Evin Prison, including time in solitary
confinement, news reports said.

In the other case, Zhila Bani
Yaghoub, a former editor of the banned reformist daily Sarmayeh, began serving a one-year prison term on September 2 in
Evin Prison's women's ward, according to news reports. She was
sentenced in 2010 to a year in prison on anti-state charges and banned from
practicing journalism for 30 years, news reports said.

Bani Yaghoub was arrested
in June 2009 with her husband, Bahman Ahmadi Amouee, who is also a journalist,
news reports said. Amouee, who is serving a five-year sentence, was transferred
out of Evin Prison and sent to Rajaee Shahr Prison earlier this year, according
to news reports.

Two other journalists are currently awaiting trial. Kasra
Nouri, a reporter for the news website Majzooban-e Noor, has been
detained since March on charges that
included "propagating against the regime in favor of foreigners," her employer reported. The
journalist's trial began on August 29, in which she was indicted for
"publishing falsehoods and creating public anxiety through membership in the Majzooban-e Noor website," according to
the same source. Majzooban-e Noor
reports on the widespread persecution of the Gonabadi Dervishes religious
minority, according to news reports. Nouri is awaiting trial in prison, news
reports said.

Abbas Khosravi
Faresani, a political blogger
who criticized the government, is free on bail pending trial, according to news
reports. He was arrested in the city of Isfahan on anti-state charges in June, news
reports said. Faresani was held for 20 days in Isfahan's Central Prison,
where he was tortured to confess to the charges of "acting against national
security through creating public anxiety and publishing lies," "insulting the
Supreme Leader and regime high officials," and being a member of "enemy
organizations that are related to Israel," the reports said.

Iran is one of the world's worst jailers of the press,
holding dozens of journalists in abusive conditions. Issa Saharkhiz, who has been
jailed since July 2009, began refusing food and medication on Monday to protest
his transfer back to Evin Prison on August 28, according to several reformist news websites.
Saharkhiz had been at a local hospital since February to receive medical treatment
for a heart condition, but authorities moved him back to prison against
the wishes of his doctor, news reports said.

Another journalist, Mohammad Davari, former editor-in-chief of Saham
News website and a CPJ International Press Freedom Award recipient, has
also been harassed while in prison. Davari was stripped naked and searched as
he re-entered the prison after a short visit to a hospital for a medical exam,
according to reformist news
websites. Davari is serving a five-year sentence on anti-state charges and
has not been allowed a single day of furlough in the three years he has been
jailed, CPJ research shows.

One journalist in Evin Prison was flogged in mid-August
during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to news reports. Siamak
Ghaderi, a freelance reporter who is serving a four-year prison term, told his
wife that he and 13 political prisoners had been lashed, according to the U.S. government-funded Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Iranian authorities
released several prisoners, including a number of journalists, on August 15,
the end of Ramadan, according to news reports. Hamzeh Karami, Ali Malihi, Nazanin
Khosravani, Farshad Ghorbanpour, and Rahman Bouzari were all freed, but it is
unclear if their release is temporary.

Since 2009, Iran's regime has maintained a revolving-door
policy for imprisoning journalists and has held dozens of journalists at any
given time. When CPJ conducted its annual prison census on
December 1, 2011, Iran was holding 42 journalists in custody.